T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive malignancy burdened by poor prognosis. While huge progress of immunotherapy has recently improved the outcome of B-cell malignancies, the lack of tumor-restricted T-cell antigens still hampers its progress in T-ALL. Therefore, innovative immunotherapeutic agents are eagerly awaited. To this end, we generated a novel asymmetric (2 + 1) bispecific T-cell engager (BTCE) targeting CD1a and CD3ε (CD1a x CD3ε) starting from the development of a novel mAb named UMG2. UMG2 mAb reacts against CD1a, a glycoprotein highly expressed by cortical T-ALL cells. Importantly, no UMG2 binding was found on normal T-cells. CD1a x CD3ε induced high T-cell mediated cytotoxicity against CD1a+ T-ALL cells in vitro, as demonstrated by the concentration-dependent increase of T-cell proliferation, degranulation, induction of cell surface activation markers, and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Most importantly, in a PBMC-reconstituted NGS mouse model bearing human T-ALL, CD1a x CD3ε significantly inhibited the growth of human T-ALL xenografts, translating into a significant survival advantage of treated animals. In conclusion, CD1a x CD3ε is a novel BTCE highly active against CD1a-expressing cortical-derived T-ALL cells suitable for clinical development as an effective therapeutic option for this rare and aggressive disease.
Keywords: ALL; BTCE; BiTE; CD1a; T-ALL; acute lymphoblastic leukemia; bispecific T cell engager; hematological malignancies; immunotherapy; translational medical research.